Research Scientist

At Amazon, we're working to be the most customer-centric company on earth. To get there, we need exceptionally talented, bright, and driven people. We are looking for a Research Scientist to be a part of the Supply Chain Planning team who will build models and algorithms for demand forecasting and capacity planning ground up.

This position requires the ability to dive deep large amounts of data, have a great business sense, and the desire to influence key strategic decisions with data-modeled analysis. We offer a technologically-sophisticated, customer-focused, data-driven and friendly work environment. Research Scientists at Amazon work directly with diverse scientific teams including Software Development Engineers, Data Engineers and other scientists. In this role, you will have an opportunity to work on mathematical problems with a large element of unpredictability. You will analyze and process large amounts of data, develop new sophisticated algorithms and improve existing approaches based on statistical models, machine learning algorithms to generate demand plans based on distributions of confidence.

As a Research Scientist in the Planning/Materials group you will partner with planning, materials, and system development engineers to enhance system tools and business process capabilities. The main responsibilities of this role are:

• Design and develop complex mathematical, simulation and optimization models and apply them to define strategic and tactical needs and drive the appropriate business and technical solutions- Build a simulation based optimization platform to drive long-term decision making processes
• Prototype these models by using modeling languages such as R, MATLAB, Mosel or in software languages such as Python. A software team will be working with you to transform prototypes into production.
• Collaborate closely with the Operations and Supply Chain functional teams to dive deep into hard technical problems and develop insightful solutions that enable productivity gains.
• Work with software engineering teams to drive scalable, real-time implementations.
• Track general business activity and provide clear, compelling management reports on a regular basis.
• Define solutions for problems across Operations and Supply Chain based on guidance from the Planning Systems Program Manager, and assist in estimating the development effort.
  

• PhD in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Management Science or a related quantitative field and 5+ years of industry experience, or a Master’s degree in the related fields with 5+ years of industry experience
  
• 5+ years experience building, iterating and validating statistical models
• Strong background in stochastic and deterministic optimization techniques and simulation
• Track record of building end to end modeling processes and workflows
• A working knowledge of linear and non-linear optimization methods accompanied by expertise in the use of OR tools (e.g. CPLEX, Gurobi, XPRESS).
• Practical experience in implementing optimization models and tools through the use of high-level modeling languages (e.g. AMPL, Mosel, R, MATLAB).
• Fluency in a high-level modeling language such as R, SAS, MATLAB or other statistical software, knowledge of relational databases (SQL)
• Expert in one or proficient in more than one more major programming languages (C++, Java, Python, etc.)
  
• Experience building, iterating, and validating predictive data models from scratch
• Ability to convey rigorous mathematical concepts and considerations to non-experts
• Ability to distill problem definitions, models, and constraints from informal business requirements; and to deal with ambiguity and competing objectives
• Strong verbal and written communication, influencing and partnership skills

• Experience with large data sets, big data and analytics
• Ability to distill problem definitions, models, and constraints from informal business requirements; and to deal with ambiguity and competing objectives
• Prior background in machine learning and forecasting is a plus
• Experience designing and supporting large-scale distributed systems in a production environment
• Supply Chain operations planning and materials management experience and/or prior role in supporting supply chain business processes
• Experience with Agile Development techniques
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language such as Java or C++/C#
• 1+ years of relevant development experience in Object-Oriented Design and Service Oriented Architecture
  

Lab126 is part of the Amazon.com, Inc. group of companies and is an Equal Opportunity-Affirmative Action Employer – Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran/Gender Identity/Sexual Orientation.